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One of the original greats of mixed martial arts, Frank Shamrock announced his retirement during Saturday night’s Showtime broadcast of “Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum” event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
“When I was 22 years old, my brother gave me two important things,” Shamrock told the audience at the HP Pavilion after entering the cage. “He gave me an ass-whoopin’ and he gave me my love of mixed martial arts. Since that time I’ve traveled the world teaching mixed martial arts, preaching mixed martial arts and dragging my poor family with me from country to country to city to city.”
“I’m 37 years old now, and my time has come,” he said Saturday. “The stars like Gilbert Melendez and Cristiane ‘Cyborg,’ they’re the future and I am the past. Tonight I announce my retirement. This will be the last time I walk into this cage as a fighter.”
“It was an honor to bleed for you,” he said, “to break my bones for you and to entertain you.”
The 37 year old fighter began his pro career in 1994 and earned an interim title with the Japanese-based Pancrase promotion by defeating Bas Rutten. He became the UFC’s first middleweight (later renamed light-heavyweight) champion after Kevin Jackson at UFC Japan in 1997 and defended that title four times. One of those bouts was against Tito Ortiz and happened at UFC 22 and will be remembered as one of the great mma matches of the past. He went on to leave the UFC and earn the WEC light-heavyweight title, and became Strikeforce’s first middleweight title holder.
After amassing a 23-10-2 record over the past 16 years, Shamrock felt that he’s had enough of competing in the cage and will now work as a broadcaster for Showtime among other ventures.
HT: Sherdog.com for the quotes.